Public-Private Consortium to Accelerate Sequencing of Mouse Genome

The National Institutes of Health, the Wellcome Trust and three private companies today announced they have formed a consortium to speed up the determination of the DNA sequence of the mouse genome. The Mouse Sequencing Consortium will provide $58 million over the next six months to decipher the mouse genetic code.

Wellcome Trust Announces Major Investment in Genome Bioinformatics

Five-year investment to support the Ensembl project, the database providing automatic annotation of the human genome

The increased resources in staff and computer power for the gene "software" will mean a much speedier collection and dissemination of information on the function of genes, greatly aiding the work of researchers around the world in finding new diagnostic methods and treatments for a huge variety of diseases.

Human Genome Project Helps Child Birth Defects

Pinpointing the 'bad' genes that lead to illness, deformity or a failure to develop normally, coupled with an understanding of how they work, has been facilitated by the Human Genome Project which is identifying the entire genetic code.

Scientists, like Professor Scambler, who are interested in medical conditions that children are born with are now able to 'database mine' the publicly available sequence data from the international Human Genome Project. In effect, the researchers look through the free-of-charge data as soon as it becomes available to try to identify the genes that may play a role in certain diseases.

Human Genome Project Helps Identify Skin Disease Genes

Dr. Alain Hovnanian is head of the Molecular Dermatology Unit at the Wellcome Trust Center for Human Genetics, Oxford. His team have been using the freely available DNA sequences from the Human Genome Project to identify the genes involved in three severe inherited skin disorders...

Using data from the human genome project and information from other databases, Dr Hovnanian's team identified 10 new genes and 4 known genes that were candidates for the disease gene. They then determined whether these genes were expressed in the skin and looked for mutations in those that were. To their surprise, they found that affected family members had defects in a gene that was previously known to function mainly in the heart and skeletal muscles. It turned out the protein the gene produced allows epidermal cells to maintain calcium stores, which are important for the function of desmosomes.

Past Great Discoveries

The Future's Genomic

Genome sequencing could ultimately change the face of biology. More immediately, it is likely to change the way scientists conduct their research.

With the completion of the working draft of the human genome, the DNA letters (ACGT) that make up our 60 000-100 000 genes are in the public domain, freely accessible to all who want to interpret and exploit the sequence data.

Commentators' Views on the Announcement of the First Draft of the Human Genome